Comparison of Anticipatory Grief Reaction in Mothers and Fathers with Hospitalized Premature Infants and the Nursing Behaviors which Facilitate the Grief Work from Viewpoint of Parents and Nurses in the NICU of Teaching Hospitals, Tabriz, 2011.

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The birth of a child an event to be remembered however, it is not always accompanied with a healthy infant. Premature birth of neonates leads to anticipatory grief reaction in parents and make them vulnerable to mental health disorders. Most neonatal intensive care units (NICU) nurses spend their energy on the survival of the patients, which leads to ignoring the needs of the patients' family. Recent studies have shown that NICU nurses are not successful in combining the philosophy and practice of family –centered care which results in the dissatisfaction of the parents. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine and compare the anticipatory grief reaction in mothers and fathers of premature infants and to describe nursing behaviors which facilitate parents' grief work related to having a premature infant in a NICU from the viewpoint of parents and nurses. Methods: This comparative descriptive design was conducted among 40 pairs of mothers and fathers selected by convenience sampling method and all the nurses of NICU wards (39) in teaching hospitals of Tabriz, Iran in 2011. The data collection performed using the anticipatory grief scale (AGS) developed by Benfield and the Fordham Scale that assessed nursing behaviors which facilitate the grief work of parents with premature infants in the NICU in five dimensions. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, "Wilcoxon ranks rest" and non-parametric "Mann –Whitney" by using SPSS. Results: All the parents in the present study reported anticipatory grief reaction. The anticipatory grief mean scores of fathers and mothers were 1.55±0.55 and 1.86±0.63, respectively. The Wilcoxon test did not show any statistically significant difference between mothers' and fathers' anticipatory grief reaction (p=0.12). The mean scores of nursing behaviors were 2.82±0.21 and 1.71±0.50, for the parents and the nurses, respectively. It was evaluated in a better condition by the nurses. Mann –Whitney test showed a significant difference between reported behaviors by the nurses and the parents (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Despite experiences, the anticipatory grief reaction in mothers and fathers showed no difference in this study. It seems necessary to pay more attention to the fathers in addition to mothers to be supported and consulted by the health care providers. Based on the different perspective of nurses and parents toward nursing behaviors, nursing programmers and directors should take measures in order to assess appropriate services to the parents.